Doomed - The Walking Dead

Chapter Eight

     "Pete killed Deanna's husband trying to get to my dad. Deanna gave the order, and Dad didn't hesitate. He shot him," Carl explains. I just sit here, dumbfounded by his words. "I'm sure you noticed the bandages on his face. He and Pete got into a fight the day before. Deanna was having a town meeting about rather or not to exile my dad because of it, and that's when it happened."
     I sit there with my mouth agape. I've never had more of a reason to be cautious of anybody. No hesitation? I mean, this Pete guy sounds like he deserved it, but... "So everyone was there?"
     "Well not everyone. I wasn't. None of the kids were. Maggie, Carol, Michonne, and some of the people who lived here before us were there." He pauses. "Including Jessie."
My hands fly up to my mouth. "Oh my god," I mumble through my hands. I know what it was like for my mom to see my dad as a walker, but I can't imagine how she would've reacted to seeing him get shot and killed right in front of her. My hands move from my mouth to the back of my neck. "When was this?"
"Couple days ago. Maybe a week."
     I exhale. "My timing's always been shitty."
     Carl chuckles. "Don't worry about it too much. If anything, you may take everyone's minds off it for a while. So don't be surprised if everybody starts bombarding you with questions."
     "Oh god," I roll my eyes. Carl laughs again.
     There's another moment of comfortable silence. Then Carl picks up my bow and starts running his fingers along the grip. "Are you pretty good with this thing?"
     I tilt my head at the question. "I think so, yeah."
     He squints his eyes at me and smirks. "I don't believe you."
     My eyes widen. "Oh really?"
     "Yeah, I think you're gonna have to prove how good you are," he jokes.
     "Any time, any place, Cowboy," I say flicking his hat down.
     He pushes his hat back up with a grin and sets my bow in my lap. "How about now then?"
     "Sure," I say in a challenging tone. "Got any apples in Alexandria?"
     "Yeah, but I have targets too. There are a couple problems with this whole thing, though."
     "What kind of problems?"
     "Well, for starters, we may have to steal the apples from Olivia if she's not willing to give any up. She's the one who basically guards the food and weapons," he explains. "Aaand you're not gonna be too happy about the other thing." I nod. "We're not really supposed to have weapons inside the walls. So we'd have to go outside."
     I take a deep breath. "We're coming back, right?"
     "Of coarse," he giggles.
     "Okay." I stand up and put my quiver over my shoulder. "Let's do this, then."
     The two of us walk out of Carl's house like we've known each other for years. We walk along the sidewalk in front of the line of houses. When no one is within earshot of us, I ask about our plan.
"So how are we gonna go about this?" I ask.
"We're gonna try to just ask for them first. And since you're new, she might say yes. But Olivia can be kinda strict on bad days," Carl says.
"Well let's hope today is a good day."
We continue walking on the sidewalk until we reach a tan house. Carl gestures for me to stay on the sidewalk while he climbs the porch stairs and knocks on the door. A woman with glasses and black hair pulled into a ponytail opens the door.
     "Carl," she says. She catches a glimpse of me and her tone changes. "What can I help you with?"
     "I'm just going around introducing everyone to our new friend," Carl says, holding his hand out toward me.
     I give a shy wave, trying to play the part. "Hi. I'm Rayne."
     There's that look again. Olivia ignores my wave. "I wasn't informed about any newcomers," she says to Carl.
     "Uh, I don't think she was recruited." He turns to me. "Were you?"
     "Recruited?" I'm genuinely confused now. I brush it off and answer his question. "I found this place. Rick was nice enough to let me in," I smile.
     "Oh," Olivia says. She turns her attention back to me. "Well hello. Uh, welcome. I'm Olivia." I grin at her.
     Carl looks at her. "We were also wondering if you had any apples."
     "They're my favorite," I say. I'm still just acting. Improv is fun.
     "I figured it would help her get comfortable," Carl plays along.
     Olivia smiles, but I can tell she's still suspicious of it all. "Sure. Wait here, I'll be right back." The door closes.
     "Success!" I whisper-shout, thrusting my fist into the air. Carl laughs. I don't know what it is about him, but I've never bonded so much with a person in so little time before. I've never made a friend so fast. We've known each other for, what?, 45 minutes? 30? That's like a record for me.
The door reopens, and Olivia appears with two Granny Smith apples in her hand. She hands them both to Carl. "I got you one too," she says to him. Then she turns to me and waves. "Nice meeting you."
     "Nice meeting you too, and thanks for the apples!" I call.
Olivia closes the door and Carl skips down the stairs. He puts the apples in the backpack he brought and we start walking back the way we came. When we reach the wall by his house, Enid's metal stakes are still there. Carl makes his way up first. I take a deep breath and head up after him.
     By the time I reach the very top of the wall, he's on the other side, looking up at me. I look at the huge distance between myself and the ground. Okay, maybe it's not as far as I think, but I've never been one for heights.
     "I'm supposed to just jump?" My voice is shaking when I ask this.
     "Yeah," Carl answers. "Don't worry, it's not as far as you think." He read my mind.
     I exhale. "You sure?"
     "Yeah, come on, me and Enid do it all the time. Just don't lock your knees."
     My eyes close and I nod. I take one more deep breath and jump. I'm alive, thank god. A few of my arrows spill out of my quiver and I quickly gather them up.
     "See, I told you you'd make it, Storm," Carl grins.
     I give him a fake "F you" look and we laugh. Then, we start walking through the woods I thought I'd never have to see again. Carl takes certain twists and turns like he knows the path by heart. Finally, we get to a cluster of trees that are fatter than the surrounding ones.
     Carl sets his backpack down and takes out one of his paper targets. They're the standard kind with a white ring on the outside, then black, then blue, then red, then the bullseye is yellow. He tells me to stay put, then he pins the target to a tree a couple yards away from me.
     "Go for it!" Carl calls. "But if you hit anything less than yellow, I get to keep your bow."
     I scoff loud enough so that I know he hears it. I set an arrow on the rest on the handle, pull back, and release. Dead center. Of coarse.
     "Holy crap how did you do that?" He asks, amazed.
     I give a cocky shrug. "Been at this for a while." I go to his backpack and take out the apples. One has a particularly long stem and I get a crazy idea. I toss the apple to him and he catches it. "If I can break the stem while you're holding it and still get a bullseye, I get to keep your hat," I smirk at him.
He yanks my arrow out of the tree and shoves it into his back pocket. He holds the stem of the apple at the very end of it, then he extends him arm out so that the space between his hand and the apple is lined up with the bullseye. "When you miss, I get to keep your bow," he challenges, "and I get to eat your apple."
"You're on." I draw an arrow back and I see Carl hold his breath and look away from me. "What? Scared?" I tease him.
"I have a bad feeling about this," he mumbles.
"Come on, Cowboy," I copy. "Just trust me."